CINXE.COM

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width; initial-scale=1.0;"/><title>Esther 9 Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers</title><link rel="canonical" href="https://biblehub.com/commentaries/expositors/esther/9.htm" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/5001com.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 4800px), only screen and (max-device-width: 4800px)" href="/4801.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1550px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1550px)" href="/1551.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1250px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1250px)" href="/1251.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 1050px), only screen and (max-device-width: 1050px)" href="/1051.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 900px), only screen and (max-device-width: 900px)" href="/901.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 800px), only screen and (max-device-width: 800px)" href="/801.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-width: 575px), only screen and (max-device-width: 575px)" href="/501.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link media="handheld, only screen and (max-height: 450px), only screen and (max-device-height: 450px)" href="/h451.css" type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /><script type="application/javascript" src="https://scripts.webcontentassessor.com/scripts/8a2459b64f9cac8122fc7f2eac4409c8555fac9383016db59c4c26e3d5b8b157"></script><script src='https://qd.admetricspro.com/js/biblehub/biblehub-layout-loader-revcatch.js'></script><script id='HyDgbd_1s' src='https://prebidads.revcatch.com/ads.js' type='text/javascript' async></script><script>(function(w,d,b,s,i){var cts=d.createElement(s);cts.async=true;cts.id='catchscript'; cts.dataset.appid=i;cts.src='https://app.protectsubrev.com/catch_rp.js?cb='+Math.random(); document.head.appendChild(cts); }) (window,document,'head','script','rc-anksrH');</script></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/esther/9.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="//biblehu.com/bmcom/esther/9-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="//biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="/commentaries/">Commentary</a> > <a href="../">Ellicott</a> > <a href="../esther/">Esther</a></div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../esther/8.htm" title="Esther 8">◄</a> Esther 9 <a href="../esther/10.htm" title="Esther 10">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading">Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers</div><div class="chap"> <div class="versenum"><a href="/esther/9-1.htm">Esther 9:1</a></div><div class="verse">Now in the twelfth month, that <i>is</i>, the month Adar, on the thirteenth day of the same, when the king's commandment and his decree drew near to be put in execution, in the day that the enemies of the Jews hoped to have power over them, (though it was turned to the contrary, that the Jews had rule over them that hated them;)</div>IX.</span><p>(1) <span class= "bld">Drew</span> <span class= "bld">near.</span>—Arrived, came, as in <a href="/esther/8-17.htm" title="And in every province, and in every city, wherever the king's commandment and his decree came, the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast and a good day. And many of the people of the land became Jews; for the fear of the Jews fell on them.">Esther 8:17</a>.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/esther/9-2.htm">Esther 9:2</a></div><div class="verse">The Jews gathered themselves together in their cities throughout all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, to lay hand on such as sought their hurt: and no man could withstand them; for the fear of them fell upon all people.</div>(2) <span class= "bld">To lay hand on such as sought their hurt.</span>—How far the Jews acted according to the strict letter of the edict, and “stood for their lives” only when attacked, is perhaps to be doubted. They had on their side all the executive of the empire (<a href="/esther/9-3.htm" title="And all the rulers of the provinces, and the lieutenants, and the deputies, and officers of the king, helped the Jews; because the fear of Mordecai fell on them.">Esther 9:3</a>), and evidently to all intents and purposes the second edict was considered virtually to repeal the first. The Jews, therefore, being in favour at Court, and, as was not unnatural after their alarm, being now full of indignation and vengeance, were probably resolved to use their opportunities while they had the chance. If so, who could object so long as they did nothing against the authorities? and they, we have seen, were on their side. That they did make a bloody use of their opportunity is shown clearly by <a href="/esther/9-16.htm" title="But the other Jews that were in the king's provinces gathered themselves together, and stood for their lives, and had rest from their enemies, and slew of their foes seventy and five thousand, but they laid not their hands on the prey,">Esther 9:16</a>.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/esther/9-3.htm">Esther 9:3</a></div><div class="verse">And all the rulers of the provinces, and the lieutenants, and the deputies, and officers of the king, helped the Jews; because the fear of Mordecai fell upon them.</div>(3) <span class= "bld">Helped.</span>—Literally, <span class= "ital">lifted up.</span> The same Hebrew verb is rendered <span class= "ital">furthered</span> (<a href="/ezra/8-36.htm" title="And they delivered the king's commissions to the king's lieutenants, and to the governors on this side the river: and they furthered the people, and the house of God.">Ezra 8:36</a>).<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/esther/9-6.htm">Esther 9:6</a></div><div class="verse">And in Shushan the palace the Jews slew and destroyed five hundred men.</div>(6) <span class= "bld">The palace.</span>—Doubtless the whole royal city, rather than the palace strictly so called. It is obvious that even Xerxes would hardly have allowed bloodshed, otherwise than by his direct orders, within the precincts of the palace.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/esther/9-7.htm">Esther 9:7</a></div><div class="verse">And Parshandatha, and Dalphon, and Aspatha,</div>(7-9) The names of the ten sons of Haman are, except Adalia, all readily traceable to old Persian roots. It may be noted that in a Hebrew Bible the ten names are written vertically, one under the other, in a column; and the Targum or Chaldee paraphrase says that the ten sons were hanged one above the other at fixed distances.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/esther/9-10.htm">Esther 9:10</a></div><div class="verse">The ten sons of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews, slew they; but on the spoil laid they not their hand.</div>(10) <span class= "bld">On the spoil laid they not their hand.</span>—This they might have done, according to the edict (<a href="/esther/8-11.htm" title="Wherein the king granted the Jews which were in every city to gather themselves together, and to stand for their life, to destroy, to slay and to cause to perish, all the power of the people and province that would assault them, both little ones and women, and to take the spoil of them for a prey,">Esther 8:11</a>).<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/esther/9-13.htm">Esther 9:13</a></div><div class="verse">Then said Esther, If it please the king, let it be granted to the Jews which <i>are</i> in Shushan to do to morrow also according unto this day's decree, and let Haman's ten sons be hanged upon the gallows.</div>(13) <span class= "bld">Then said Esther</span> <span class= "bld">. . .</span>—In the terse words of the heading, “Ahasuerus, at the request of Esther, granteth another day of slaughter, and Hainan’s sons to be hanged.” It seems impossible here to acquit Esther of simple blood - thirstiness. Before the slaughter of the 13th of Adar was actually over, it is obvious that the Jews were no longer in any danger. It was known that the sympathies of the Court were entirely with the Jews, and the officers of the king consequently took their part. After one day’s slaughter, in which in the capital alone 500 men were killed, we may be quite certain that the Jews were masters of the situation, and therefore we do not hesitate to call Esther’s fresh action needless butchery. Were anything needed to bring out the matter in its true light, it might be seen in the request that the sons of Haman might be hanged. They had already been killed (<a href="/esther/9-10.htm" title="The ten sons of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews, slew they; but on the spoil laid they not their hand.">Esther 9:10</a>), doubtless among the first, and Esther, therefore, asks for the dead bodies to be crucified, a gratuitous outrage on the dead. Because Esther was a person whom God made use of as an agent for a great purpose, we are not called upon to tone down and explain away the black spots in her history. To suggest that Esther had reason to fear “a renewal of the attacks of the enemies of the Jews” is out of the question, when the Jews had their feet on their necks. We must not, on the other hand, judge Esther according to the high Christian standard. It is true that the Old Testament taught “vengeance is Mine” but it needed the teaching of the New Testament to bring that truth home to men.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/esther/9-15.htm">Esther 9:15</a></div><div class="verse">For the Jews that <i>were</i> in Shushan gathered themselves together on the fourteenth day also of the month Adar, and slew three hundred men at Shushan; but on the prey they laid not their hand.</div>(15) <span class= "bld">For the Jews</span> <span class= "bld">. . .</span>—Translate, <span class= "ital">And the Jews.</span><p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/esther/9-16.htm">Esther 9:16</a></div><div class="verse">But the other Jews that <i>were</i> in the king's provinces gathered themselves together, and stood for their lives, and had rest from their enemies, and slew of their foes seventy and five thousand, but they laid not their hands on the prey,</div>(16) <span class= "bld">Seventy and five thousand.</span>—The number as given in the LXX. is fifteen thousand, perhaps a more probable number. On the whole history, Bishop Wordsworth well remarks, “It shows the recklessness of human life, even of their own subjects, which then prevailed among the sovereigns of the most celebrated nations of the Eastern world; and it displays the ruinous consequences which would have resulted to human civilisation if Ahasuerus (Xerxes) had been victorious at Salamis. If Greece had not triumphed in that struggle with Asia, Oriental ruthlessness and Oriental polygamy might have become dominant in the West, and greater difficulties would have obstructed the progress of civilisation and Christianity. The Book of Esther reveals to us that the hand of God wrought for the deliverance of mankind at the Straits of Salamis, and on the banks of the Asopus at Platæa, as well as for the preservation of the Jews in the provinces of Persia.”<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/esther/9-18.htm">Esther 9:18</a></div><div class="verse">But the Jews that <i>were</i> at Shushan assembled together on the thirteenth <i>day</i> thereof, and on the fourteenth thereof; and on the fifteenth <i>day</i> of the same they rested, and made it a day of feasting and gladness.</div>(18) <span class= "bld">On the fifteenth day . . . they rested.</span>—Both the fourteenth and fifteenth days are now kept as the festival of Purim, the former day being the chief.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/esther/9-19.htm">Esther 9:19</a></div><div class="verse">Therefore the Jews of the villages, that dwelt in the unwalled towns, made the fourteenth day of the month Adar <i>a day of</i> gladness and feasting, and a good day, and of sending portions one to another.</div>(19) <span class= "bld">The Jews of the villages . . . the unwalled towns.</span>—Virtually the same Hebrew word is used in both these cases (<span class= "ital">perazim, perazoth</span>)<span class= "ital">.</span> The meaning is that of country towns, undefended by bulwarks, or, at any rate, not in the sense in which the capital would be. We find the word used in contrast with “fenced cities” in <a href="/deuteronomy/3-5.htm" title="All these cities were fenced with high walls, gates, and bars; beside unwalled towns a great many.">Deuteronomy 3:5</a>.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/esther/9-21.htm">Esther 9:21</a></div><div class="verse">To stablish <i>this</i> among them, that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and the fifteenth day of the same, yearly,</div>(21) <span class= "bld">And the fifteenth day of the same.</span>—The Jews in the provinces had already made the fourteenth day a day of gladness and feasting. Mordecai now bids that the fifteenth also be so kept.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/esther/9-24.htm">Esther 9:24</a></div><div class="verse">Because Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had devised against the Jews to destroy them, and had cast Pur, that <i>is</i>, the lot, to consume them, and to destroy them;</div>(24) <span class= "bld">Pur.</span>—See above on <a href="/esther/3-7.htm" title="In the first month, that is, the month Nisan, in the twelfth year of king Ahasuerus, they cast Pur, that is, the lot, before Haman from day to day, and from month to month, to the twelfth month, that is, the month Adar.">Esther 3:7</a>.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/esther/9-25.htm">Esther 9:25</a></div><div class="verse">But when <i>Esther</i> came before the king, he commanded by letters that his wicked device, which he devised against the Jews, should return upon his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows.</div>(25) <span class= "bld">Esther.</span>—It will be seen that in the English Version this word is printed in italics. The Hebrew is literally, <span class= "ital">and on her</span> (or <span class= "ital">its</span>)<span class= "ital"> coming.</span> To make the pronoun refer to Esther seems harsh, seeing that she has not been mentioned for some time, and we therefore prefer to make it impersonal, “when <span class= "ital">it</span> (<span class= "ital">i.e.,</span> the matter) <span class= "ital">came.”</span><p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/esther/9-26.htm">Esther 9:26</a></div><div class="verse">Wherefore they called these days Purim after the name of Pur. Therefore for all the words of this letter, and <i>of that</i> which they had seen concerning this matter, and which had come unto them,</div>(26) <span class= "bld">Purim.</span>—As we have already stated, the festival of Purim is still observed by the Jews, on the 14th and 15th of Adar, the day preceding being kept as a fast. At Purim, the whole Book of Esther is read through in the service in the synagogues, a custom that can be traced back at any rate to the Christian era (<a href="//apocrypha.org/2_maccabees/15-36.htm" title="And they ordained all with a common decree in no case to let that day pass without solemnity, but to celebrate the thirtieth day of the twelfth month, which in the Syrian tongue is called Adar, the day before Mardocheus' day.">2 Maccabees 15:36</a>; Josephus, <span class= "ital">Ant. xi.</span> 6. 13; Mishna, <span class= "ital">Bosh ha-Shanah,</span> iii. 7).<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/esther/9-29.htm">Esther 9:29</a></div><div class="verse">Then Esther the queen, the daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai the Jew, wrote with all authority, to confirm this second letter of Purim.</div>(29) <span class= "bld">This second letter.</span>—It seems to us that the first letter must be that extracted from the king by Esther (<a href="/esther/8-8.htm" title="Write you also for the Jews, as it likes you, in the king's name, and seal it with the king's ring: for the writing which is written in the king's name, and sealed with the king's ring, may no man reverse.">Esther 8:8</a>), and consequently this “second letter “is Mordecai’s (<a href="/esther/9-20.htm" title="And Mordecai wrote these things, and sent letters to all the Jews that were in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, both near and far,">Esther 9:20</a>), which is now confirmed in a more authoritative way.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/esther/9-30.htm">Esther 9:30</a></div><div class="verse">And he sent the letters unto all the Jews, to the hundred twenty and seven provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, <i>with</i> words of peace and truth,</div>(30) <span class= "bld">The letters.</span>—Omit the article.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/esther/9-31.htm">Esther 9:31</a></div><div class="verse">To confirm these days of Purim in their times <i>appointed</i>, according as Mordecai the Jew and Esther the queen had enjoined them, and as they had decreed for themselves and for their seed, the matters of the fastings and their cry.</div>(31) <span class= "bld">To confirm . . . enjoined . . . decreed.</span>—The same Hebrew verb stands for the three different English verbs; it is also the <span class= "ital">stablish</span> of <a href="/esther/9-21.htm" title="To establish this among them, that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and the fifteenth day of the same, yearly,">Esther 9:21</a>. To <span class= "ital">fix</span> or <span class= "ital">settle</span> represents the meaning.<p><span class= "bld">The matters of the fastings and their cry.</span>—These words come in rather awkwardly, and hence, and because they are passed over by the LXX., some have doubted their genuineness here. All Hebrew MSS., however, and all the other ancient versions, retain the words, and we must, therefore, suppose that the Jews throughout the empire had instituted fasts and lamentations, in addition to what Mordecai’s letter had enjoined, Thus we may probably connect this with the fast now observed on Adar 13.<p> <div class="versenum"><a href="/esther/9-32.htm">Esther 9:32</a></div><div class="verse">And the decree of Esther confirmed these matters of Purim; and it was written in the book.</div>(32) <span class= "bld">In</span> <span class= "bld">the book.</span>—It is doubtful what “the book” here means. The Vulgate explains it of the Book of Esther itself, and so many modern scholars. Still “the book” hardly seems a natural Hebrew way of referring to a work on the part of its author as he writes it, and no similar case is adducible. Others think it must have been a book written at the time on the subject of the festival, which is, perhaps, possible. Canon Rawlinson identifies it with “the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Media and Persia.” Because such is the use of the word <span class= "ital">book</span> elsewhere in Esther.<p><span class= "bld"><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center">Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers<br /><br />Text Courtesy of <a href="//biblesupport.com" target="_top">BibleSupport.com</a>. Used by Permission. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="/">Bible Hub</a></div></div></div></div></td></tr></table></div><div id="left"><a href="../esther/8.htm" onmouseover='lft.src="/leftgif.png"' onmouseout='lft.src="/left.png"' title="Esther 8"><img src="/left.png" name="lft" border="0" alt="Esther 8" /></a></div><div id="right"><a href="../esther/10.htm" onmouseover='rght.src="/rightgif.png"' onmouseout='rght.src="/right.png"' title="Esther 10"><img src="/right.png" name="rght" border="0" alt="Esther 10" /></a></div><div id="botleft"><a href="#" onmouseover='botleft.src="/botleftgif.png"' onmouseout='botleft.src="/botleft.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botleft.png" name="botleft" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div><div id="botright"><a href="#" onmouseover='botright.src="/botrightgif.png"' onmouseout='botright.src="/botright.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botright.png" name="botright" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div><div id="rightbox"><div class="padright"><div id="pic"><iframe width="100%" height="860" scrolling="no" src="//biblescan.com/mpc/esther/9-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></div></div></div><div id="rightbox4"><div class="padright2"><div id="spons1"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tr><td class="sp1"><iframe width="122" height="860" scrolling="no" src="/commentaries/ellicott/sidemenu.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></div><div id="bot"><br /><br /><div align="center"> <script id="3d27ed63fc4348d5b062c4527ae09445"> (new Image()).src = 'https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=51ce25d5-1a8c-424a-8695-4bd48c750f35&cid=3a9f82d0-4344-4f8d-ac0c-e1a0eb43a405'; </script> <script id="b817b7107f1d4a7997da1b3c33457e03"> (new Image()).src = 'https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=cb0edd8b-b416-47eb-8c6d-3cc96561f7e8&cid=3a9f82d0-4344-4f8d-ac0c-e1a0eb43a405'; </script><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-2'> </div><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-0' style='max-width: 300px;'> </div><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-3'> </div><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-1' style='max-width: 300px;'> </div><br /><br />  <div align="center" id='div-gpt-ad-1531425649696-0'> </div><br /><br /> <ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:inline-block;width:200px;height:200px" data-ad-client="ca-pub-3753401421161123" data-ad-slot="3592799687"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); </script> <br /><br /> </div><iframe width="100%" height="1500" scrolling="no" src="/botmenubhchap.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></div></td></tr></table></body></html>